Designing Aircraft for Stealth

By Lauren Aguirre

Posted 02.04.03

NOVA

Designing for stealth means minimizing all the ways that an enemy can detect a plane, whether by sight, noise, heat, or radar waves. While there are trade-offs between stealth and aircraft flight performance, being able to enter enemy territory without detection offers obvious advantages. Here, explore Boeing's ultra-stealthy Bird of Prey fighter plane to see ways that engineers achieve stealth.

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